While some electronic devices such as personal computers have specialized keyboards for text input, other electronic devices may not provide adequate user controls to input text. For example, some electronic devices may have only a remote control which is normally very simple and comprises only the main function of the electronic device, but not a keyboard for inputting text. Various solutions are available in the state of the art, but remain inadequate.
For example, many electronic devices (e.g., those with simple remote controls) may provide a display based keyboard. The keys of the keyboard are chosen by using four direction keys to navigate on the display based keyboard and a fifth key to confirm each selected keyboard key. This may keep the remote control simple without requiring any additional keys for the remote control, but text input is very time consuming and very often stops users from using functions of the TV requiring text input.
QWERTY-keyboards as used with personal computers can be connected wirelessly to the electronic device and provide an effective tool for text input. However, for most functions of the electronic device, a QWERTY-keyboard is much too complex and too big so that the advantages of the text input are offset by the disadvantages of this kind of remote control. In some cases the QWERTY-keyboards are reduced in size, which always raises the problem of the trade-off between size of a key and size of the remote control. In addition, the text input by the QWERTY keyboard can only be checked on a display of the electronic device so that the user has to change his view always between the display which may be far away and the keyboard. This is already a burden for people with good eyes, but becomes a serious barrier for person with different defects of vision for the distance and the vicinity.
An alternative method to input text is use of a number field. For example, number 1 (or key corresponding thereto) may be used to input A, B or C, the number 2 may be used to enter D, E or F, etc. This input method is well-known in mobile phones, but is used less and less with the rise of smartphones which also use a full keyboard. In addition, this method also requires controlling the input via the display of the device.
Recently, devices such as smartphones may be directly used as remote controls for the electronic device. This has the advantages that the user can use the text input well known to the user by daily use of a smartphone, and that the user can also see text input directly on the smartphone while typing. However, for each electronic device, the user has to download an application for the remote control of the electronic device. On the other side, the manufacturer of electronic devices being controlled has to offer for each type of smartphone or each type of operating system of a smartphone, an application and update the applications with each version of the smartphone operating system. Therefore the installation and maintenance of those applications are cumbersome for the manufacturer and the user.
Similar issues exist in various video signal devices, such as televisions, set-top boxes (STBs), video recorder, etc. In this regard, none of the presented solutions of the state of the art are suitable for text input.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.